1 Kings 12:8

1Ki 12:8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, [and] which stood before him:

Ver. 8. But he forsook the counsel of the old men.] With whom he consulted only for fashion’s sake - as Xerxes did when he went against Greece, {a} - resolved beforehand to stand upon his pantofles, and not at all to stoop to the people. He had those about him, doubtless, that would tell him - as some court parasites did our king John, when he had yielded to the requests of his barons for the subjects’ liberty {b} - that now he was "a king without a kingdom, a lord without a dominion, and a subject to his subjects."

And consulted with the young men.] So did our king Richard II, to his utter ruin. So did Xerxes despise the grave counsel of his uncle Artabanus; and was wholly led by young Mardonius, to the loss of all. {c} The like is reported of Dionysius, king of Sicily; Croesus, king of Lydia; Nero, emperor of Rome; {d} James, that reigned in Scotland in Edward IV’s time; {e} and Lautrer, of whom it is reported that he lost the kingdom of Naples from the French king his master, and all that he had in Italy, because he would not ask nor follow the advice of them that were wiser than himself. {f}

{a} Val. Max.

{b} Daniel.

{c} Herodot., lib. vii.

{d} Sueton.

{e} Daniel.

{f} Sir R. Berk., Sum. Bon.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 12:8. But he forsook the counsel of the old men — Judging it unworthy of his majesty and authority, and likely to encourage the people in their insolent demands; and, being proud and vain, he scorned to condescend to them and court them in this way, but would have obedience paid to him as to an absolute monarch; and consulted with the young men — So called compared with the old men, otherwise, as they had grown up with him, they must have been near forty years old. They were, however, men who were unexperienced, and who understood not the humour of the people they had to do with. This is frequently the fault of new kings: to show their power, and gratify their dependants, they frequently change their counsellors and put in new officers; not considering who are wisest and worthiest, but who have been their companions.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12:8-10 young men: Rehoboam’s appointed contemporaries took a hard line and advised the opposite of the older men.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

8. young men that were grown up with him] i.e. Who were about the same age. It is not needful to suppose that they had been educated with him from their youth up. They now being his contemporaries were chosen to ‘stand before him,’ to be his privy counsellors. This office the older men had held under Solomon (see 1Ki_12:6).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him,.... He did not rightly relish it, nor cordially receive it; it did not suit with his haughty temper, he could not brook it, to stoop to his people; he thought it a lessening of his dignity to do anything that looked like courting their favour; and therefore determined not to take the advice given him by the old men, but to seek for other:

and consulted with the men, that were grown up with him, and which stood before him; the sons of nobles, with whom he had his education, and who were his companions from his youth upwards, and who were now officers in his court, and of his privy council, being his favourites, and those he consulted on this occasion; and though they are called young men, as they were in comparison of the old men, yet since they were contemporary with Rehoboam, who was now forty one years of age, they must be about forty, or not much under, and at an age to be wiser than they appeared to be.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The age of Rehoboam at his accession is an interesting and difficult question. According to the formal statement of the present text of 1Ki 14:21; 2Ch 12:13, he had reached the mature age of 41 years, and would therefore be unable to plead youth as an excuse for his conduct. The general narrative, however, seems to assume that he was quite a young man (compare 2Ch 13:7). Perhaps the best way of removing the whole difficulty would be to read in the above text “twenty-one” for “forty-one.” The corruption is one which might easily take place, if letters were used for numerals.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Him. They were young, compared with the former, though they might be 40 years old. (Menochius) --- It was frequently the custom in the eastern courts, to educate young noblemen along with the heir to the crown. Such formed the captains of Alexander, (1 Machabees i. 7,) and the warriors of Sesostris, whose father ordered all the male children who were born on the same day in his dominions, to be brought to court, to be educated with his son. (Diodorus i.) --- The Persian nobility were brought up at the gate of the prince, that they might learn temperance and the art of governing. (Xenophon, Cyrop. i.) --- The endeavours of Solomon were frustrated by the evil disposition of his son, and of those about his person.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He forsook the counsel of the old men; judging it unworthy of his majesty and authority, and likely to encourage and increase the people in their insolent demands. The young men; so called comparatively to the old men; otherwise they were near forty years old, as the following words imply.

That were grown up with him; which is added as the reason of his inclination to their counsels, because his daily converse with them, and the likeness of their age and humour to his, had engaged his affections to them, and that bribed his judgment, as it commonly doth.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. The young men that were grown up with him — Probably sons of Solomon’s chief officers, who had been trained at the royal court, and were designed to be the officers of the succeeding king. Though called ילדים, youths, they may have been, like Rehoboam, forty or more years old.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given Heb. counselled him "We can easily imagine that their proposal was not very agreeable to the rash and imperious young king, in whose veins Ammonite blood flowed" (Bahr), and consulted with the young men see on ver. 1. "The very change argues weakness.. Green wood is ever shrinking" (Hall) that were grown up with him possibly his companions in the harem, and which stood before him i.e. , as his courtiers and counsellors (of. ver. 6). The old men were the counsellors of Solomon; the young men alone are spoken of as the ministers of Rehoboam.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Young men - So called, comparatively to the old men: otherwise they were near forty years old.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Lighten the yoke that your father put on us

To "lighten the yoke" is a metaphor to represent lifting of the burden. AT: "Do not treat us as cruelly as your father did" or "Do not force us to work as hard as your father did" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

Rehoboam

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.